This is a blog of someone who gets a little lost and bogged down in genealogy limbo; that hazy place in between "hobbyist" and professional. Hopefully it will become a source of info as well as a source of support for those who are also making their way through the maze of records and business know-how

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

First up, Illinois land grant records at NARA Chicago

Ok, so yet another of my NGS Home Study Course assignments dealt with Land Grant records. Fortunately, right now I'm living in the greater Chicago Metro Area and can take advantage of the holdings of the National Archives, Great Lakes Region located on the south side of the city.

The assignment is to first determine whether you live in a federal land state or a state land state. The state land states are most easily remembered as those states formed from the thirteen original colonies, states formed by land from these states, and lands used as bounty land from them; Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Hawaii make up these states which are also known as non-public states, of which there are twenty. Ohio also had land which falls into this territory because a good portion of it was used as a military district for veterans.

The remaining thirty states are federal land states because the land they cover belonged to the government after the Revolutionary War. Illinois is one of these states and it is the records of the various Illinois land offices which I was to focus on for the assignment.

The main purpose of the assignment was to do a survey of the records held by the repository you visited. For the sake of time when considering the massive holdings of the National Archives, I was to look at the state I live in and report on what records are available for that state alone. Below is the list that I compiled.

***Notes***

-It should be mentioned that NARA Great Lakes-Chicago location has more than just IL land grant records. Indiana was also included in their catalog and it's possible that their holdings may include Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio as well, though there are two NARA Great Lakes locations and the other is in Dayton, Ohio. For specific information on which land grant records are held at which location you can contact the Archives at chicago.archives@nara.gov or 773-948-9001

-NARA only has land grant records for federal land states. For grants outside these states, where the grants are often known as patents, check the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office, website at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ where you can search the patents online

-The finding aid for land records at NARA Chicago included Illinois land office records which were only available at the Washington D.C. location. For a complete catalog of the land records of the various IL land offices, these records should be consulted.

Illinois Land Grant records available at NARA Great Lakes Region, Chicago, IL**

Chicago Land District (1835-1855) Abstracts of Cash Entries Abstracts of Military Bounty Land Warrant LocationsGalena Land District (1835-1840)/Dixon Land District (1840-1855) Registers of Cash CertificatesEdwardsville Land District (1816-1855) Register of Final Credit Certificates Registers of Cash Certificates Declarations of Consent under the Relief Act of 2 March 1821 Relinquishments under the Relief Acts of 2 March 1821, 18 May 1824, 4 May 1826, and 21 March 1828Kaskaskia Land District (1809-1855) Applications to purchase Register of Credit Certificates Declarations of Consent under the Relief Act of 2 March 1821 Relinquishments under the Relief Act of 2 March 1821 Relinquishments under the Relief Acts of 18 May 1824, 4 May 1826, and 21 March 1828 Register of Cash Certificates Receivers Cash Account BookPalestine Land District (1821-1855) Registers of Cash CertificatesVandalia Land District (1821-1855) Registers of Cash CertificatesQuincy Land District (1831-1855) Registers of Cash CertificatesDanville Land District (1831-1856) Registers of Cash CertificatesShawneetown Land District (1814-1855) Registers of Cash CertificatesSpringfield Land Office (1823-1876) Registers of Cash Certificates

(I have a Word document/pdf file of the above list also. If anyone would like a copy, just drop me an email)